New Haven Post Game Thread

[RuffRuff]

I mean, I’m splitting hairs a bit with this nuance, but I’d argue Newton in 2023 and Newton in 2024 wasn’t really the same player. He was sort of an erratic weak link the first one on a Sanogo-Jackson-Hawkins team where we ran a lot of stuff through AJ, and then he was a first team All American leader in the second one. He averaged 9 ppg and had 31 assists and 17 turnovers in the first tourney run, and then averaged 15 ppg with 43 and 10 the second one (even with an 0-6 day against Illinois). I mean, ok, he’s the same person, but he wasn’t doing the same things. Duke and Florida graduated nobody both times. Just ran it back with the same guys in the same roles.

Sanogo and Clingan had almost nothing in common with how they played. We also didn’t have Joey C and Alleyne scoring off the bench.

Karaban was Karaban both times, but that was about the only holdover from title one to title two that didn’t change much.

He was very good in the tournament, which was when the team blossomed. That team wasn't really all that great during Big East play. His NCAA tournament play carried over. That 23 team was really all about the NCAA tournament. I'd guess very few people picked us to win it, versus the following where everyone did.

 

[Inyatkin]

Meaning he wasn't our first choice. He got to go stink up the joint in Lawrence. Had we landed that person, we would have had a total clunker of a recruitment. Cam was a vital piece to that team's greatness.

It's true, if we had different players we would have had a different team and likely a different outcome. Good point

 

[RuffRuff]

It's true, if we had different players we would have had a different team and likely a different outcome. Good point

The man asked.

Your wisdom is always highly appreciated.

 

[RuffRuff]

If it's so easy to blow every team out in 2 straight NCAA tourneys with a spectacular roster, how come no one else has ever done it?

Even Dan says you don't have to be nearly that good to win another one, so we're all waiting.

 

[Inyatkin]

Even Dan says you don't have to be nearly that good to win another one, so we're all waiting.

There has been one season since we won those titles. One.

 

[superjohn]

He was very good in the tournament, which was when the team blossomed. That team wasn't really all that great during Big East play. His NCAA tournament play carried over. That 23 team was really all about the NCAA tournament. I'd guess very few people picked us to win it, versus the following where everyone did.

He was very good in tbe title game and he was up and down in the tournament like he was during the season. His NCAA tournament #'s were basically identical to his season #'s. He was a much different and much better player his final season.

 

[husky429]

Meaning he wasn't our first choice. He got to go stink up the joint in Lawrence. Had we landed that person, we would have had a total clunker of a recruitment. Cam was a vital piece to that team's greatness.

Plan 1b is not "inadvertant". Glad we could clear this up

 

[freescooter]

Big difference in my eyes is that Donovan and K won with basically the exact same team two years in a row. I don’t think either team lost anyone after winning the first one, so they just ran it back. By contrast Hurley lost 3 starters to the draft early - and the top two bench scorers. And the starters who were there for both - Newton and Karaban - aren’t the sort of generational “lightning in a bottle” sort of talents that we’ll never see again. (Clingan was there for the first one … but playing 10 mpg).

Swapping out Clingan for Sanogo and Spencer for Hawkins gave us vastly different players at those spots. Jackson and Castle had some similarities in how they played here, but they were very different too.

So yeah we won two in a row, but they were two different titles that happened to come in back to back years that required different systems/different coaching styles.

Last year, the timeline could have looked different if Liam stayed healthy (and Diarra too) - but the Aidan and Nowell whiffs didn’t give us enough margin for error. So it certainly wasn’t all bad luck.

I’ve seen too much from Hurley - he’s raised our level 3 times: taking us from a pit to being competitive, taking us from being competitive to being an NCAA team, taking us from NCAA team to NCAA champion. Each one of those levels was harder than the last.

Not sure why we’d doubt his long term coaching ability - unless there’s something systemic in NIL era where we get outbid all the time.

I’m neither doubting nor accepting his long term potential. I’m just asking which it will be more like. And it has zero to do with 2 titles. It is largely about what he does from here on. K continued to assemble highly competitive teams as winning 3 more championships and getting to 4 additional Final Fours, so 7 Final Fours in all AFTER his back to back wins. Donovan got to one with zero more titles. We’ll have to see where Hurley fits. Nobody at Florida was particularly broken up about Donovan leaving.

Back to backs are certainly impressive but in many ways it is probably more difficult to win multiple titles over a long period because you need to adapt to different developments in the game, different styles and types of players, and new rules.

 

[UConnJim]

I mean, I’m splitting hairs a bit with this nuance, but I’d argue Newton in 2023 and Newton in 2024 wasn’t really the same player. He was sort of an erratic weak link the first one on a Sanogo-Jackson-Hawkins team where we ran a lot of stuff through AJ, and then he was a first team All American leader in the second one. He averaged 9 ppg and had 31 assists and 17 turnovers in the first tourney run, and then averaged 15 ppg with 43 and 10 the second one (even with an 0-6 day against Illinois). I mean, ok, he’s the same person, but he wasn’t doing the same things. Duke and Florida graduated nobody both times. Just ran it back with the same guys in the same roles.

Sanogo and Clingan had almost nothing in common with how they played. We also didn’t have Joey C and Alleyne scoring off the bench.

Karaban was Karaban both times, but that was about the only holdover from title one to title two that didn’t change much.

I was thinking about 2022/2023 when watching last night's game. The first game was against Stonehill which UConn won 85-54 and the team had 16 assists and 15 turnovers. The next 2 games, UConn had 17 assists and 14 TOs (against BU), and 17 assists and 15 TOs (against Buffalo). All three games were wins by 20+ points due to superior talent. I think it is going to take a while for the offense to gel, especially with 2 missing starters that will need to be integrated into the lineup.

 

[freescooter]

Yep. I think some would rather have had one title in 23 and then the 2nd one 5 years later.... Then he'd be a hall of famer. But back to back is somehow a knock???

Nope. Speaking for just myself I want to have championship every year. If not it was a disappointment.

 

[uconn_jack]

One game in without 2 starters, and the BY is already:

 

[KingAG]

Even Dan says you don't have to be nearly that good to win another one, so we're all waiting.

It’s been one season.

 

[gsmooth]

I think his point was that wasn’t our first option. If we got our first option we would not have had Cam.

Our first option was the Kentucky guy who name slips my mind.

The first option was Nicholas Timberlake who eventually chose Kansas, thank the Basketball Lords because Cam Spencer is waaaaaay better than Timberlake.

Later edit: I didn't keep reading after your post and I see others responded to it

 

[HW611]

Timberlake (Kansas), who everyone wanted and was wrong about. But we had a ready backup plan that ended up working out.

Yup I think I was thinking of the Kentucky guy from last year with Aiden. Cam was Timberlake and Kansas.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Shouldn’t really be a concern. He has two seasons of high major basketball where he has been both a good defender and fouls haven’t really been an issue (roughly 2.5 over 30 minutes a game).

He didn't look like a good defender last night

 

[dennismenace]

A lot of things to be concerned about, yet we have to consider that UConn's starting center and most likely their best scorer were sitting in Catholic school clothing on the bench.
AK hit some important shots that stopped the bit of momentum that UNH had built at the time. AK had good numbers, again.
The Georgia bulldog left that edginess at home when it came to guarding his man on the perimeter.
Smith is a flash in driving to the hoop but like so many recent guards at UConn he needs to work on making sure the ball goes thru the hoop. He will be a sure asset as the season progresses.
Korona had flashes of great play but he needs to learn to dunk the ball and/or take it strong to the basket - missed 3 bunnies - he does bring a high energy level.
Maybe insisting that Ball generate an inside game is not a good thing - seems to have screwed up his perimeter shooting which is so important to this team. If you can't throw up a lob, please don't bother.....................................
Stewie had too much athleticism for any UNH player trying to guard him. A good game for him.
Ross is too high strung when he gets on the floor. Needs to harness that energy and he will be fine.
I like the way Millender plays and what a luxury having him as the 3rd option at the PG position.
Reibe is young and the more playing time he gets the better off UConn will be. He looked like he was just trying to survive yesterday because Posh was hitting some unreal shots. UConn needs to be looking for Posh's name in the portal next spring.
It's a win and only a win, a loss would have been like Maui 2024.
Dan Hurley knows the road is going to be bumpy for a while.

LOL He looked like the video of the playground stud passing himself off as an old man who schools all the young guys. 6-9 and built with two years remaining.

 

[Excalibur]

I’m neither doubting nor accepting his long term potential. I’m just asking which it will be more like. And it has zero to do with 2 titles. It is largely about what he does from here on. K continued to assemble highly competitive teams as winning 3 more championships and getting to 4 additional Final Fours, so 7 Final Fours in all AFTER his back to back wins. Donovan got to one with zero more titles. We’ll have to see where Hurley fits. Nobody at Florida was particularly broken up about Donovan leaving.

Back to backs are certainly impressive but in many ways it is probably more difficult to win multiple titles over a long period because you need to adapt to different developments in the game, different styles and types of players, and new rules.

So you would have been questioning K’s future when he didn’t make it out of the first weekend for three years after Grant Hill graduated?

 

[gtcam]

If it's so easy to blow every team out in 2 straight NCAA tourneys with a spectacular roster, how come no one else has ever done it?

John Wooden?

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Duke is looking like a well-oiled Machine. We look like a toaster from goodwill.

 

[dennismenace]

Nobody was the reason we won. He was one of the many reasons we won and had a significant role like every other important player.

He wasn’t just a middling 13 mpg guy. He might’ve been the best bench player in the country. Clingan’s impact was just so crazy for those two years whenever he was in the game.

I mean how many times do you hear about a guy winning a tournament MVP without even playing 20 minutes in any of the games?

LOL this reminds me of a phrase used by a Boneyarder who referred to Clingan's entry in a game as a "rampage." He was just so dominant at both ends. It was truly something to behold. In a Portland game where he was having one of those rampages the fans were chanting
"CLING-KONG CLING-KONG."

 

[gtcam]

Those 13 minutes that Cling averaged meant the difference of victory vs loss in many games including the Nike Tournament and at least 3 NCAA tournament games. UConn had a two headed monster in AS and DC that you rarely see in college hoops.

 

[TheShot1990]

It's over. I'm deleting all 15 of my streaming services.

 

[80shusky]

Don't worry about the lack of assists. We're hiding much of our offense until BYU

This is what I was thinking. It didn't seem like we were running much. It seemed like he was just letting them play on talent alone for the most part. I was hoping that a BY coach would weigh in on that.

 

[HW611]

That has happened so many times in our history, though. Emeka, Kemba and Bazz were all fallbacks after we didn’t get our first options.

But also, I think the original options went on to play pretty well.

Brandon Knight and Corey Joseph’s were really good players who left early/Jennings just didn’t play college ball.

The lucky part was more that we got to hold onto our guys longer for them to become great players. Rather than luck out in not getting someone who was not that great like a Timberlake.

 

[nomar]

That has happened so many times in our history, though. Emeka, Kemba and Bazz were all fallbacks after we didn’t get our first options.

Two more:

Ben Gordon >>> Kelvin Torbert
Jeremy Lamb >>> Doron Lamb